INMATE ESCAPES WHILE OUT FOR DAUGHTER'S CHRISTENING

A Lehigh County Prison inmate, who had jumped parole in the past, escaped Sunday after a judge granted a request that the inmate be allowed out for four hours to attend his daughter's christening.

"You don't expect people to take advantage of a child's christening," said Warden Timothy Carver when asked about the disappearance of Keith Messner, an inmate in his early 30s who is serving time for theft of services and forgery.

"He's AWOL, and he'll be charged with escape when he's apprehended," said Carver.

Judge James Diefenderfer, who granted Messner a furlough, was not aware Messner had escaped when called by a reporter yesterday. "You look at a situation as best you can, and you take a chance on if he's going to come back," said the judge.

Messner's intentions seemed innocent enough, according to law enforcement officials. He asked to befreed on Sunday afternoon to attend his daughter's christening at Sacred Heart Church in Allentown - just two blocks from the prison. But about noon Sunday, Messner apparently called the church from his cellblock and canceled the christening.

"There was no christening because he phoned and said his daughter was sick," said a church spokesman. "But there was a christening planned."

Messner was released into the custody of his mother. She was supposed to pick him up outside the prison and return him four hours later, but officials said something obviously didn't go as planned. When 4 p.m. rolled around, Messner didn't. His mother could not be reached for comment.

A prison source said that several days before Messner was to be furloughed, the inmate sent all the money in his prison bank account to his home. The source did not know the exact amount in Messner's account. The source also said that when Messner was leaving the prison on Sunday, he was carrying an armful of papers and legal work. "It seemed strange he would be taking all that to a christening," said the source.

Messner violated parole last year by leaving Pennsylvania and going to Arizona. After several months, Messner was tracked down and returned to Lehigh County Prison on a bus. He was handcuffed to a custody officer.

In an interview upon his return, Messner said that during the trip he was poorly treated, which resulted in a bladder problem.

Diefenderfer said yesterday that when he considered the furlough request, he was not aware of Messner's trek to Arizona. When asked if a lot a screening was done before Messner was released on parole, the judge said "probably not too much." He said, however, that Messner is not serving a sentence for a violent crime - a factor in approving the furlough.

Because of the Arizona incident, prison officials advised against putting Messner into the work-release program to serve the remainder of his sentence, which could have been up in the fall of 1987. Carver said the prison did go along with letting Messner out on furlough for the christening.

In 1977, the prison started a policy in which inmates on work release could be furloughed for christenings, funerals and other special occasions. Carver said that policy does not apply to inmates, such as Messner, who have been turned down for work release and confined to the protective custody section or the general prison population.

Carver said inmates not on work release can only be furloughed by a judge. These furloughs, said Carver, are unusual. "They happen, but it's not a common occurrence."

The warden said the Messner incident will not affect the furlough program. "It's difficult to second guess . . . We try to be as sure as we can."